From drawing up wills to guardianship and property planning preparations, Lucy d’Ambrumenil does all of it.
We love entrepreneurs and small enterprise homeowners at Honeycombers, which is why we’ve created Launchpad, a complete digital networking platform (with IRL advantages, too) that encourages connection, enterprise assist and group. It’s a privilege and pleasure to study from so many proficient and provoking people, so we’ve determined to share the love by interviewing a number of the pretty Launchpad members. Searching for inspiration? Try how Lucy d’Ambrumenil, who runs Phoenix Wills in Singapore, will get it carried out like a boss.

What’s your backstory and why did you resolve to launch your small business?
My enterprise associate, Åsa Wilkins, has been on the helm of Phoenix Wills since 2013 in Hong Kong. I knew of it as an extremely well-respected market chief and because the go-to for multi-jurisdictional wills within the APAC area. So, I initially used it to arrange wills and guardianships for my household once we lived in Hong Kong.
I’m a lawyer by background. Having labored in personal observe and in-house for over a decade, I used to be searching for a chance that was professionally difficult and, crucially, would work alongside my different “job” (my two younger youngsters).
Åsa, my now-partner, and I obtained chatting. Studying that there was a niche within the Singapore market of multi-jurisdictional will writers, and that our values have been aligned, we determined to arrange Phoenix Wills in Singapore. I’m very enthusiastic about partnering with somebody who’s a real knowledgeable, revered in her subject, and in addition an moral enterprise chief. At Phoenix Wills, we’re about data sharing as a lot as the rest. There’s a lot misinformation on the market about guardianships and wills. We’re obsessed with arming individuals with the proper data.
What has been your largest problem up to now and the way did you overcome it?
Purple tape! Anybody who has arrange a enterprise right here, notably as a non-Singaporean, will empathise. It’s simple to really feel deflated at every setback however I attempt to reframe it as a brand new problem from which I can study. I give attention to the truth that the wins are that rather more satisfying as soon as the hurdles are overcome.
I remind myself of the well-known idea of stoicism to try to draw the road between what’s in our management and what’s not. There are such a lot of issues we will management in life and numerous issues we will’t. What we will management is barely our response to them, and that’s the place to focus our vitality.
How do you keep motivated and energised?
From a enterprise perspective, I’m motivated by my shoppers and the rewarding feeling of serving to to place their needs in place in order that their family members are correctly protected. You may nearly hear the sigh of reduction when shoppers signal their wills and different paperwork, having obtained the duty ticked off the to-do listing.
No consumer or scenario is identical; that selection and private connection is one thing I like about my work. We must be good listeners in what we do, to make sure we seize every part related within the paperwork. All of ours are bespoke, and there’s no one-size-fits-all. There may be complicated monetary and emotional conditions to think about, which we assist our shoppers to navigate. Our intention is to take the anxiousness out of this job, which may be daunting, and make it as stress-free as attainable.

How do you retain stress ranges low?
I steadiness my work with wholesome quantities of time with my two little youngsters. There’s nothing fairly like a negotiation with a headstrong toddler or two to distract you from work stresses. I additionally attempt to construct in some sort of motion every day. It is likely to be a tennis match, a weights session, Pilates or perhaps a stroll simply to clear my head. Train is simply as a lot a psychological tonic for me as it’s a bodily factor.
Favorite locations to work?
I combine it up between my house workplace and our workplace on Robinson Street within the CBD. I really love each in equal measure. It simply is determined by whether or not it’s a gathering day, by which case I am going to the workplace, or a head-down will-drafting sort of day.

Are you able to share a piece mantra that you simply use?
Don’t underestimate the ability of a community – particularly within the context of what you possibly can study from others about enterprise concepts, how you can enhance and what to think about. It’s so necessary to be open to studying from others’ experiences and information.
One factor you possibly can preserve speaking about for hours?
I’m most likely presupposed to say “wills” right here, however that’s a bit miserable! On a critical be aware: journey. It’s my love of exploring new international locations and cultures that led me from the UK to Hong Kong and Singapore. Many people listed here are in the identical boat and that’s why it’s so necessary to have correctly drafted guardianship paperwork and multi-jurisdictional wills in place.
Your go-to self-care exercise?
Am I allowed to say wine? I’m (kind of) joking, however I don’t suppose a lot beats a great natter with my husband or a girlfriend, combined in with some stomach laughter and washed down with a glass of wine. That, or a great sport of tennis.
One piece of recommendation to your youthful self?
Don’t overthink: belief your intuition, do it and see what occurs. It is a key lesson that I’ve realized from rising a enterprise. Being a lawyer, I generally discover myself getting overly caught up within the particulars and the varied eventualities of a selected determination as a result of I at all times wish to suppose 5 steps forward. But it surely’s necessary to steadiness that mindset with the arrogance to attempt one thing and, if it doesn’t work, be versatile and do one thing completely different.
Get in contact with Lucy d’Ambrumenil on-line.
Launchpad is a complete digital networking platform (with IRL advantages, too) that encourages connection, enterprise assist and group. It’s designed to make the entrepreneurial journey not solely simpler, and extra profitable, but additionally a complete lot extra enjoyable. We provide nearly day by day actions for members to attach, together with weekly masterclasses, member networking roulette, small-business mentoring and media profiles on Honeycombers. Test it out and be a part of us!